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R. G. BRISTOL. M SEPARATOR FOR STEAM GENERATORS.

WATER AND STEA No. 60,470.

Patented Dec. 18, 1866.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CON GERN Be it known that I, RICHARD (J. 'BnIsToL, ofSt. Clair, county of St. Clair, State of Michigan, have invented certainnew and useful improvements in Means for Separating Water from Steam;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exactdescription thereof.

My invention is intended for use in connection with steam boilers andsteam engines in situations where the boiler is liable to throw upconsiderable quantities of water mingled with the steam, in the mannerknown to engineers as priming or working water. This evil is due to wantof space for proper separation in the boiler, and various causes notalways thoroughly understood. The rise of water into the steam pipe, andits flow through the steam into the engine, is a source of muchdiificulty, not the least of which is the occasional reduction of thewater in the boiler to a dangerous extent, by the great quantity whichmay be suddenly withdrawn from the boiler in lieu of steam. My apparatusdiffers very greatly from the ordinary apparatus known as steam traps,both in its construction and in its mode of operation. There is nonecessity for any movable part, either iloat, valve, or the like, and itis eminently self-operating, or, rather, allows the water to flow backof itself into the boiler Without any operation of the apparatus, andrequires no care or attention.

I will first describe What I consider the best means of carrying out myinvention, and will afterwards designate the points which I believe tobe new. The accompanying drawing forms a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a vertical section through my apparatus, with a pmtien ofthe boiler and engine employed in connection.

Figures 2 and 3 represent modifications of the same idea.

The marks of reference agree with those in the following description.

The'drawing represents the novel parts, with so much of the ordinaryparts as is necessary to understand their relation thereto.

A is a steam boiler; a is the water level therein. A is the part of thesteam pipe which is connected to theboiler. 'B is the steam chest of theengine, and B is the portion of the steam pipe which is connectedthereto. C is a vessel considerably larger than the steam pipe, andsurrounding the. same. .0 is a pipe leading from the bottom of thevessel C to the steam boiler, and carried down therein to a level belowthe water line. The steam pipe A B is not continuous through the vessel-C, but is divided into two entirely distinct pipes, having open months,not in line with or presented towards each other. The waterand steamrising through the pipe A are thrown into the vessel 0, and caused tocirculate therein. The water separates from the steam by gravity, whilemoving across 01' about in this chamber, and the steam alone entersjhcopen endof the pipe 13, which is not presented so as to receive thewater ejected from the pipe A. The steam alone goes to the engine, whilethe water, collecting in the bottom of the vessel 0, flows back into theboiler by its gravity. The fact that the drain pipe 0 opens into theboiler below the water line forbids the possibility of 'a current'ofsteam rising through this pipe. If any current rises through this pipe,it is not steam, but water. The considerable difference in level betweenthe vessel C and the water line of the boiler prevents water fromflowing upwards through this pipe, unless the'pipe A be of so limitedarea as to induce considerable difference of pressure in the-boiler andin the vessel 0. Care must be taken to avoid this by placing thethrottle-valve or obstructions of that character in the portion '13,(not in the portion A,) of the steam pipe, and by making the pipe A ofvery great area, so as to reduce the possibility of the passage beingchoked, even in extraordinary'instanccs, when an unusual quantity ofwater is drawn up with thesteam. I prefer to so deflect the open end ofthe pipe A that the contents shall be projected into the vessel C in adirection somewhat tangentially to.

the surface of the vessel. .This insures that the steam and the watershall traverse around the inner surface of the vessel, in whichcondition the centrifugal force of the water particles will tend to keepthem always to the outside, and cause them to strike against and adhereto the surface of the vessel, while the pure steam alone will remainfree. By placing the open mouth of the pipe 13 in or near the centre ofthe vessel, the best conditions for the reception of pure steam thereinare obtained. The entire apparatus may be covered with felt, clothing,wood-dogging, &c., and with all such protection againstthe loss of heatby radiation as will be obvious to any good engineer. The drawingsindicate the pipes as simply covered with felt or the like ordinaryprotection. I do not limit myself to any precise proportion between thevessel C and the several pipes. I believe that a very small chamber 0will prove tolerably eflicient in separating the water from the steam,although I prefer one of considerable capedity, for the purpose ofgreater efiicieucy iniseparating the water, as Well as affording moresteam chamber, in which most boilers are insufficient. After the waterhas been properly separated, to be returned to the boiler, as indicated,the steam may be led either upwards, downwards, 'or laterally to anydistance. In cases where it may not be practicable to lead the waterdirectly back to the boiler by gravity, as where my apparatus is farremoved from the boiler, or .where it is by any necessity lower than theboiler, the water, after descending into a pipe corresponding to my pipeC, may be allowed to escape into the atmosphere, or into any suitablereceptacle, by the operation of an ordinary steam trap, placed at thebottom of the pipe C. The same trap will prevent the escape of steam andallow only the escape of the water, while my vessel 0 and the severalpipes will perform the same functions, as above-described, except thatthe water will not be returned directly to the boiler, but will requireto be acted on by a pump or the like, in order toreturnit. It will beobserved that I attach some importance to the fact that the denseparticles are thrown out of the current of steam by their momentum; butI should add that I ascribe much of the e iiect of my invention toanother cause, to wit, the reduced velocity of the steam in flowingthrough the large chamber C. The velocity being reduced, the water isallowed to separate more readily, and will do so to some extent, even ifmomentum is not availed to render the action more efiicient. Myinvention may, and in many cases where the vertical space is small must,be used in ahorizontal, or nearly horizontal, position. It is neverpossible'to separate all the water from wet steam by anymechanicalmeans, but my invention will remove the greater part.

Some of the advantages due to certain features of my invention may beseparately enumerated, as follows:

1. By reason of the fact that my vessel 0 receives the steam from theportion A of the steam pipe, which is not connected to or in line withthat portion, B, through which the steam is discharged, and is providedwith the passage C, leading from its lower portion, as specified, Iallow the water to escape from the influence of the current of steamwhich conveys it, and to descend by its gravity into the bottom of thevessel, and thence into the pipe C, while the steam alone flows offthrough the portion of the steam pipe B without appreciable diminutionin its pressure, and without any of the expense or risk of derangementdue to the employment of working parts.

2. Byreason of the fact that my pipe A discharges-the water and steamfrom itself into the vessel C, in a direction out of line with the mouthof the pipe B, and, in one form of the apparatus, with awhirlingmotion,or tangentially, and that the pipe or portion of the pipe designated byB, which conveys the steam from the vessel C, receives the steam at apoint out of the path of the incoming current, and, in one form of theapparatus, at or near the axis of the vessel 0, I am able to renderavailable the inertia, momentum, cr centrifugal force of the water toaid in preventing any considerable quantity from passing out through thepipe B, and in compelling the whole of the. water to fall down throughthe pipe C.

3. By reason of the fact that my vessel C is located nearly over theboiler-,and with the pipe C" opening into the boiler at a low levehlamable to return the water from the vessel 0 directly into the boiler,without any pump or analogous device to effect such return.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new therein,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. I claim, in combination with the steam-generating apparatus A, thevessel C, disconnected portions A B, of the stesm'pipe, and the drainpipe 0, arranged for joint operation in separating the water and steamflowing through the pipe A, discharging the water through the pipe O,and the steam alone through the pipe B, substantially as herein setforth.

2. I claim the within-described arrangement of the vessel C, auditsconnections relatively to the boiler A, so that the water separated fromthe steam, and descending in the pipe G, shall flow directly back to theboiler, without the necessity for intervening mechanism, substantiallyas and for the purpose herein specified.

' mousse c. BRISTOL.

Witnesses:

J. 8. Warner, E. S. Weren't.

